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"Er...uhhh, yes of course..." he jumped to the floor and rooted through his small leather pack. With haste he grabbed his map and handed it off to Awkid who quickly unrolled it on the table — pinning its corners with small paper weights.

The two of them seated themselves, Balamor waiting for the Dwarf to start.

"This is where we are." Awkid’s finger landed in the middle of the forest that bordered the pass, it would be a long trip to the Mog Brush.

"We need to make our way east until we reach the road to Anstia. If we don't run into problems then we could be there by noon."

Balamor realized Awkid's camp was much further west than he thought. It had to be nearly a mile from the Greatstone Pass. The fact that the Dwarf burrowed through the soil such a distance impressed him.

"What about that arm, you carried us nearly a mile from the pass last night. Why not do that again?"

The dwarf looked up at the ceiling in disgust,

"This damn rain. It will destroy my arm if it gets wet. I learned that many years ago. An experience I regret having." He paused a moment with a clenched fist before he went on,

"But that's besides the point, magic isn't always the solution and you need the experience anyway."

Balamor nodded his head in agreement as he remembered his experience with the stone Raji rune. He wondered if Awkid witnessed the encounter with the bandit last night. A bandit he now realized understood the rune words far more than himself. His daydreaming was interrupted by the sound of a heavy thud against the table.

A thin cloud of dust sprung into the air making Balamor cough. As it cleared he noticed a thick hardback book in front of him — Of Nefarious Nature

"Read up, if you want to survive the Mog Brush then you better know what's gonna kill you." Awkid finished his instruction with a chuckle before he stood up and walked to the counter.

Balamor blew the remaining dust off the cover revealing a rare purple dyed cloth upholstery; he flipped it open, its pages were trimmed with gold leaf, each paragraph initialed with a fancy drop cap.

Story summary

The Southland has been quiet for decades, undisturbed from the everyday routine. The Anstian Monarchy has stretched its grip far across the territories of the mid-south with an intent to keep any trace of magic suppressed. But there's one mapmaker in particular whose taste for knowledge and righteous determination will begin to uncover ancient secrets and destine blood ties.

Author guidance

The Runes of Rahkfolk was inspired by a Dungeons & Dragons campaign me and some friends have been playing. Being the DM, I had to create a world where everyone who played would fit in somewhere. At first it was just characters with a loose back story from their players.

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